title: Reduction of Coxiella burnetii prevalence by vaccination of goats and sheep, The Netherlands.
abstract: Recently, the number of human Q fever cases in the Netherlands increased dramatically. In response to this increase, dairy goats and dairy sheep were vaccinated against Coxiella burnetii. All pregnant dairy goats and dairy sheep in herds positive for Q fever were culled. We identified the effect of vaccination on bacterial shedding by small ruminants. On the day of culling, samples of uterine fluid, vaginal mucus, and milk were obtained from 957 pregnant animals in 13 herds. Prevalence and bacterial load were reduced in vaccinated animals compared with unvaccinated animals. These effects were most pronounced in animals during their first pregnancy. Results indicate that vaccination may reduce bacterial load in the environment and human exposure to C. burnetii.
authors.affiliation: Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. l.hogerwerf@uu.nl
authors.forename: Lenny
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hogerwerf
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van den Brom
authors.forename: Hendrik I J
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Roest
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouma
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vellema
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pieterse
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dercksen
authors.forename: Mirjam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nielen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058491:Bacterial Load / Q000662:veterinary; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003612:Dairying; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006041:Goats; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D011778:Q Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014599:Uterus / Q000382:microbiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines